Kenneth Barber
My feedback
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37 votes
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An error occurred while saving the comment Kenneth Barber
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That's actually not a bad idea.
A community edition would be good for familiarizing yourself with PI and doing hands-on testing and learning without playing around with and potentially messing up the "good" database at work.
In addition, having PI at home would mean that you can learn PI, its potential, and its inherent limitations without the pressure of work. This, in turn, leads to users envisioning their ideal PI product.
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1 voteKenneth Barber
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4 votesKenneth Barber
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19 votesKenneth Barber
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8 votes
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But if the users don't log in, how is PI Vision supposed to know which displays they have access to?
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26 votes
An error occurred while saving the comment Kenneth Barber
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In my opinion, an Android app would be a step backwards because if there is ever an update, all users must download and install the update in order to get it. If PI Vision remains a web app like it is now, the only thing that needs to be updated is PI Vision on the server and it doesn't matter as much if the client program (the web browser) is out of date.
Besides, a PI Vision Android app wouldn't even work unless it can connect to a server (the PI Data Archive), so since it requires connecting to a server, that server might as well be the PI Vision server.
An error occurred while saving the comment Kenneth Barber
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Like with any website, you should be able to add the PI Vision mobile page to your home screen on mobile devices, so it will look like and act like an app. Also, the PI Coresight apps were removed in favour of the mobile web pages. After all, PI Coresight and PI Vision won't work without Internet connectivity anyways, so it's OK if they rely on a browser. The mobile web pages also avoid unnecessary installation on your mobile device (thin client versus fat client).
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8 votesKenneth Barber
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36 votes
An error occurred while saving the comment Kenneth Barber
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PI can't even store events with sub-second timestamps by my understanding, so I don't see the point in sub-second refresh rates. The "less than 5 seconds" part of the suggestion is still good.
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1 vote
An error occurred while saving the comment Kenneth Barber
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Google Translate translation (with minor edits):
When the data state of the PI Point is abnormal, the current data value of the PI Point should keep its latest historical data value. -
3 votesKenneth Barber
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5 votesKenneth Barber
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2 votes
An error occurred while saving the comment Kenneth Barber
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The problem with PI ProcessBook is that everybody that uses it needs to have it installed. And when a new version is released, everyone needs to install the upgrade in order to get it.
PI Vision is a web app. All you need to access it is a web browser, which everybody already has. If PI Vision needs to be upgraded, there is only a single upgrade that needs to be done.
A web app makes even more sense when you consider the fact that PI ProcessBook can't do much without connecting to a remote computer (i.e. the PI Data Archive). So if you need to connect to a remote computer to use a program, why not have the program on that remote computer?
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2 votesKenneth Barber
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2 votesKenneth Barber
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An error occurred while saving the comment Kenneth Barber
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I also encountered this issue. It seems that PI backs up the archives first and then deletes any corresponding older backups, or at least, that is what the free-space check would suggest. If you don't have enough space for all of the archives that will be backed up, the backup fails. The older backup archives that will be replaced as part of the backup are not counted towards the free space, but they should be.
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4 votesKenneth Barber
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2 votesKenneth Barber
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1 voteKenneth Barber
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5 votes
An error occurred while saving the comment Kenneth Barber
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This should be moved here:
https://feedback.osisoft.com/forums/555145-pi-developer-technologies?category_id=181195Kenneth Barber
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In response to Rick Davin, this is my opinion:
The community edition of PI should include:
• PI Data Archive (restricted)
• PI Asset Framework (restricted)
• PI SQL DAS (RTQP Engine) (full version, but simplified based on the restrictions of the above programs)
• PI Analysis Service (restricted)
• PI Builder (full version, but simplified based on the restrictions of the PI Server programs)
• PI SQL Client (OLEDB only) + PI SQL Commander Lite (both full version)
• PowerShell Tools for the PI System (full version)
• PI Connector For UFL (special CSV files only)
• PI Signal Generator Connector (Ramp Soak + Random) (full version) (not created yet; currently just a suggestion)
• PI System Management Tools + PI System Explorer (web version) (full version) (not created yet; currently just 2 separate suggestions)
Any program not listed here should be excluded.
Restrictions that can be imposed:
• as a rule of thumb, exclude anything related to reliability, security, or scalability
• exclude anything related to event frames or notifications
• exclude everything in PI System Explorer's Library except for enumeration sets
• exclude superseded and deprecated features (e.g. PI ACE, PI Performance Equations, 32-bit programs, point classes other than "base", PI Point attributes not used by those of point class "base")
• no PI Collectives
• no future data
• no archive backup
• no exception & compression
• no annotations or flags
• no ability to configure security
• all of the PI programs must be run on the same computer
• no PI program other than those allowed should work with the community edition
• you get only 1 archive file, and it will be dynamic
• expression analyses only
The PI Server, as a whole, should be limited to 200 "things" total. Examples of "things" that would count against this 200 include PI Points, digital state sets, elements, attributes, enumeration sets, and analyses. Each type of "thing" can have a different cost against the budget, but you get the idea. UOMs should be unlimited.
The PI Connector For UFL should be restricted to CSV files with the columns: PI Point, Timestamp, and Value. It should not use PI AF.
The PI Signal Generator Connector can be used to generate data for testing purposes without going back to the dark ages of the PI Interfaces that this PI Connector is based on.
The web versions of PI System Management Tools and PI System Explorer avoid any issues related to piracy of these currently client programs, since they won't be client programs anymore.
The programs that I've included are designed to give different types of users a taste of what PI can do yet not feel like they are missing out. Administrators have PI Builder. Power users have PI SQL Client (good for use in Excel or Power BI Desktop). Developers have PowerShell Tools for the PI System. No casual users will use the community edition, so we are safe to exclude PI Vision.
The restrictions that I've imposed are designed to simplify the PI system for small-scale use while preventing users from scaling towards production use. I was careful to make sure that the restrictions don't give a bad impression of the enterprise version of the PI system. The restrictions should not make anything other than scalability difficult. They should be restrictive but not feel restrictive.
You will also notice that my wish list depends on 3 suggestions being implemented. For best results, I feel that these should be implemented before the community edition of PI is attempted. The suggestions are linked below:
https://feedback.osisoft.com/forums/555139-pi-connectors/suggestions/33282343-make-a-pi-signal-generator-connector-ramp-soak
https://feedback.osisoft.com/forums/555148-pi-server/suggestions/31691464-pi-system-management-tools-smt-as-a-web-applicat
https://feedback.osisoft.com/forums/555148-pi-server/suggestions/31691545-pi-system-explorer-pse-pi-af-web
For anyone reading this comment, let me know what you think.